Venice and La Donatella Dessert Company

Buon giorno! It's been another week since I posted last! The time is flying now it seems like. Internet access was limited this week so I have waited until this point to send another update on this blog or post new pictures to facebook. Venice and the surrounding area was a very nice place to spend a week! Elisabetta Gottin and La Donatella treated me very well and offered me more opportunities to gain invaluable experience with Italian business, this time in the area of sales and visits to Italian retailers.

During this past week, I spent most of my time shadowing Elisabetta Gottin. Mrs. Gottin is the Commercial Director of La Donatella and as such she manages all sales responsibilities within the company. She seemed to have her hand in most operations of the company and I was very impressed with her ability to keep track of such a large business. I arrived in Venice on Monday and essentially spent the afternoon meeting the personnel at La Donatella, based in Jesolo, Italy. Jesolo is about 30 minutes north of Venice. On Tuesday, I went with Mrs. Gottin to meet with a buyer for IPER Stores in Milan. Seeing how buyers work in a retailer other than those we are familiar with in the states was very interesting and a learning experience for me. After the visit with the buyer at IPER, we went on a short tour of Milan and then visited an actual retail store on the way back to Venice to see how a store in Italy is set up and also to see La Donatella's products in-store. Mrs. Gottin also took me by beautiful Lake Garda and Verona on the way home, just adding to the experience of the day.

On Wednesday, I toured the production plant at La Donotella in Jesolo. This was a sweet experience for me, literally. I saw how La Donatella produces their products with such high quality and in such mass-production. It was very interesting and, like I said, sweet too. They had to let me taste a few of their favorite cakes! I also was able to sit-in on a few meetings today with the staff, which was also very interesting. Finally, we visited another buyer in Treviso, Italy of Vega retailers to wrap up the day. Mrs. Gottin also set me up in Venice for Thursday night and I met Tripp and Scott again for two more nights to complete the Venetian experience! Some pictures of the week are posted below. Look for more posts coming in the next few days, hopefully!

From Top to Bottom: La Donatella Logo, La Donatella Office in Jesolo, Mrs. Gottin and I visiting IPER buyer, IPER store, La Donatella products in-store, Donuts in production, Packaging cakes, Downtown Milan billboard, Lake Garda (Peschiera, Italy)